FWK Wallis in famous anglers

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Chavender
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Re: FWK Wallis in famous anglers

Post by Chavender »

that competition cast was a aggregate distance I believe over three accumulated casts ,he didn't die in poverty wasn't dead rich but comfortable off ,the lace businesses wasn't his ,but his family's at which he worked (family business ,run by dad & his uncle and all the family was involved) he was also a jp (magistrate) and moved south as a jp (oh and the fishing) when the family business got sold on (a lot of small lace weavers was brought up by a bigger company to cut competition ,but it ultimately didn't save the trade .that went east) .he did die in relative obscurity for such a great influential angler .

his cousin was also angler ,worked at the family firm & a jp and a cricket player ,fwk is beleaved too have been involved in cricket too maybe a umpire ,& he was friends with a certain Mr Coxon (another cricketer & umpire)

the story about his initials is little known but its a little in-joke by his parents .His fore names was chosen too spell out FWK because FWK in Victorian times related to lace making fwk =frame work knitter it came from stocking makers (pre trouser days men wore stockings or tights not women) and it later was attributed to lace weaving (because it used too be made on a frame) as that sprang from the stocking making cottage industry & wallis's great gradfather was a engineer who with his partner ran a workshop building Mr leavers new fangled lace weaving machines which turned the lace industry from a cottage industry weaving on frames into a manufacturing business overnight .

although it was known as "Nottingham lace" and theres the historical Lace market in Nottingham itself ,most of the lace making took place in villages outside Nottingham ,and one of them in close proximity too the river trent and only a few miles from Nottingham was Long Eaton ,which went from a rural village to major lace producing town ,with the invention of leavers lace weaving machine ,and it being made in the town (by Wallis's great grandfather & partner,"Wallis and Longden") ,lace mills sprang up .by the turn of the century the (willam wallis ,fwk's grandad) Wallis family built "britania mills" as the William Wallis and Sons ,enoch (fwk's dad?) was a prominent person in the town ,with other business intrests ,he also opened the library ,the family made lace upto the 1930's .fwk worked at the factory as a draughtsperson amoungst other jobs ,he also became a jp after the family business was sold/took over he invested his moneys and moved south to continue as a jp and fish his beloved river at the royalty .
ok i'm long eaton bourn & bread and first learnt to wally cast there on the banks of the trent ,possibly where fwk may well of stood & fished (although he learnt the cast from bailey & bendigo ,he just refined the cast that later bore his name) ,so I've a little vested intrest in F.W.K ,done a little research here & there ,don't yet have the full picture of the man ,one day I may
I try to be funny... but sometimes I merely look it! Steve

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Deaf Cat
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Re: FWK Wallis in famous anglers

Post by Deaf Cat »

That's brilliant!

Thanks for sharing your research Chavender.

:Hat:
Duffer - The man without skill of hand, without good eyesight and no longer young - the man who really ought to fish!
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Mark
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Re: FWK Wallis in famous anglers

Post by Mark »

Yes thank you Steve. :Hat:
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where you find only elder trees, nettles and dreams. (BB - Denys Watkins-Pitchford).

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Chavender
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Re: FWK Wallis in famous anglers

Post by Chavender »

I missed a chance a few years ago ,another chap from long eaton had done some deeper research and had acquired one of Wallis's cased fish ,a local trent record (shardlow) ,and he put the cased fish up for auction with a folder of background research (he intended to write a book ,I think but may of died and his family put the items up foe auction) I would of loved too have got a copy of the folder as it chronicled Wallis's later life after he moved south and had details of his resting place and the various homes he had lived in .

wallis was a interesting guy ,set up and ran a local club ,won a event three times got too keep a big trophy ,then donated it as a special award ,held quite a few local fish records moved in esteemed circles of friends with some of the greatest anglers of the day and previous generation .bit of a demon magistrate though ,you wouldn't want to be up before him .
I try to be funny... but sometimes I merely look it! Steve

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Len Arbery
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Re: FWK Wallis in famous anglers

Post by Len Arbery »

Hello All,

It has been suggested that I should share the following picture here:

Image

It shows F.W.K. (Frederick William Knowles) Wallis fishing the Royalty Fishery's famed Railway Pool.

The brick pillars atop the railway bridge stanchions had long gone when I first fished there in the mid-1960's.

Besties,

Len.

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Shaun Harrison
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Re: FWK Wallis in famous anglers

Post by Shaun Harrison »

Rather than doubting the casting claims I feel it would be much more in traditional spirit to celebrate some of his angling achievement's.

Image
Taken from the lovely book 'The Great Anglers'.

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Len Arbery
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Re: FWK Wallis in famous anglers

Post by Len Arbery »

Well said, Shaun!

I entirely and wholeheartedly agree with you.

Besties,

Len.

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StefanDuma
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Re: FWK Wallis in famous anglers

Post by StefanDuma »

Wallis is a very firm favourite of mine having done lots of research into the man for my forthcoming book Men of Trent, part one, out later this year.

I did hear the various stories about his so called poverty, his move to the south but alas these two are incorrect along with many other myths.

Chavender is correct in that his family owned a lace business in Long Eaton and Nottingham.

He never left Nottinghamshire, I was very fortunate to meet with his granddaughter who let me have some unpublished photographs of him. She heard that John Norman had said that all Wallis had left at the end of his life was his record fish and a few other items. She had no idea why he had made up the stories and unfortunately Norman died early so we will never know.

The record fish was returned to the water by Wallis something I was able to pass on to Anne before she died. She and her husband spent years looking in pubs trying to find the record barbel that Wallis had caught. The romantic theory is that Bailey passed on his casting to Coxon and that Coxon showed Wallis all the great secret haunts on the Royalty where the big barbel were. Rubbish!

I have done lots of research into Wallis tracing all the places he lived and even where he is buried, believe me he never moved south. I also own the magnificent silver trophy that he won on numerous occasions for the Wellingtonians together with some photographs and his obituary.

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Shaun Harrison
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Re: FWK Wallis in famous anglers

Post by Shaun Harrison »

Having spent the last 50 plus years within a couple of mile of the Trent I'm really interested in this, who's publishing it?

The Trent certainly helped shape some great anglers over the years.

Paul D

Re: FWK Wallis in famous anglers

Post by Paul D »

StefanDuma wrote: Mon Feb 13, 2017 7:27 pm Wallis is a very firm favourite of mine having done lots of research into the man for my forthcoming book Men of Trent, part one, out later this year.

I did hear the various stories about his so called poverty, his move to the south but alas these two are incorrect along with many other myths.

Chavender is correct in that his family owned a lace business in Long Eaton and Nottingham.

He never left Nottinghamshire, I was very fortunate to meet with his granddaughter who let me have some unpublished photographs of him. She heard that John Norman had said that all Wallis had left at the end of his life was his record fish and a few other items. She had no idea why he had made up the stories and unfortunately Norman died early so we will never know.

The record fish was returned to the water by Wallis something I was able to pass on to Anne before she died. She and her husband spent years looking in pubs trying to find the record barbel that Wallis had caught. The romantic theory is that Bailey passed on his casting to Coxon and that Coxon showed Wallis all the great secret haunts on the Royalty where the big barbel were. Rubbish!

I have done lots of research into Wallis tracing all the places he lived and even where he is buried, believe me he never moved south. I also own the magnificent silver trophy that he won on numerous occasions for the Wellingtonians together with some photographs and his obituary.
Fascinating Sir, care to share some pictures?

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